Phantom Stallion in London
by snappleapple518
Summary: On a class trip to London, Sam realizes some things about herself that she's never realized before... about her relationship with family, and friends. But most of all herself. FINALLY COMPLETE! YEAH! R&R!
1. A Scientifically Proven Fact

**Disclaimer: _I do not own the Phantom Stallion or any of the characters included._**

**Chapter 1**: The Departure

"Now, listen. If you get in trouble, you just call me okay, Brat?" Jake told her, using her insulting nickname to disguise the concern he was really feeling.

"Sure thing, Jakey Boy." She looked up at him and smiled.

"You know that's not my name, Brat."

"And mine's not Brat. So as long as you call me Brat, I'm calling you Jakey Boy. Or Jacob. Either one works. Just as long as you hate it." She teased.

"Right…" he trailed off looking down at the floor. She looked down at the floor, too. She wasn't sure why, but she was sure glad when Jen showed up.

"Hey, Sam!" yelled Jen as she ran across the floor; her pale blonde braids flying, every which way.

"Jen!" Sam ran over and gave her a big hug.

"This is going to be so much fun, isn't it?" she yelped.

"Sure is." Said another voice, deeper than their own. Sam turned to see Ryan Slocum standing behind them.

"Hey, Ryan." Said Sam.

"Didn't see ya there." Said Jen, but the soft pink blush that covered her cheeks told otherwise.

"Oh, so I'm that transparent?" Said Ryan.

"Of course, not. But you are rather short." She teased, trying to cover up her embarrassment, even though he wasn't any shorter than any of the other guys in her class. In fact he was taller than most of them. Jen had liked Ryan since the first time she had seen him. Sam didn't get it. Sure he was good-looking, but he was also the son of Linc Sloclum, the most pigheaded man in town, and the twin brother of the brattiest girl in town, Rachel Slocum. They weren't exactly people you wanted for your in-laws.

Jake, who had been silently standing next to Sam since Ryan had walked up, then cleared his throat. Sam looked over at him, and gave him a look as if to say 'what?'

"I think I'm gonna leave now." He looked over at Ryan quickly.

"Okay, Jake. See you later."

She didn't know why she did it, but Sam leaned over and gave him a quick hug. Jake flinched slightly, but relaxed after a moment, then she pulled away.

"Bye, Brat. And remember what I said." He nodded at all of them, and spun around in a hurry. Sam smiled. Jake was easily embarrassed.

Jen looked over at Sam and smirked as if to say 'We'll talk about that later.'

"So, it's pretty cool that we get to spend two weeks away from home, huh?" said Ryan.

"Yea, I'll miss the horses and everything, but it'll still be fun." Said Sam.

"Yea, I'm gonna miss, Silly." Said Jen looking downcast. "But it's worth it." She smiled at Sam and then at Ryan, but mostly Ryan, thought Sam, smiling.

"What are you laughing about?" asked Jen, eyebrows raised.

"Nothing." Sam gave her a sweet smile.

**20 minutes later**

After they had boarded the plane Sam was really beginning to get into the spirit of things when Jen started to ask questions she didn't want to answer.

"So, what's with you and Jake?"

"What do you mean what's with me and Jake?" she wondered bewildered.

"You hugged him…" her voice trailed of and Jen looked at Sam with her eyebrows raised.

"And… your point is?" asked Sam.

"So do you like him?" Jen asked.

"Ew, gosh no!" Sam exclaimed, horrified that Jen would even think something like that, in reference with her and Jake.

"What do you mean, 'Gosh, no!'? You hugged him! You don't hug someone unless you feel something. It's a scientifically proven fact."

"Oh, well I guess I've proven the scientists wrong- cause I _do not _like _Jake._"

"I've got my eye on you, Missy." Said Jen, with a smile.

"Sure, you keep your eye on me, but it's not going to see anything, cause I do not like Jake." Sam stressed.

"You seem awfully defensive about it." Said Jen with a smirk, "Maybe you don't _think _you like Jake but deep down your subconscious knows it."

"Stop, blaming my subconscious for stuff! It has not control over itself!"

They both burst into giggles.

"What's so funny?" asked a voice from one seat ahead of them.

"Nothin." Said Sam, as they turned around and saw Rachel Slocum peering over the front of their seat.

"Why would you laugh, if nothing's funny?" asked Rachel, with a confused look on her face.

"Sometimes your subconscious just gets the best of you." Sam wheezed out as another unexpected laugh escaped her. Jen doubled over, cracking up.

"Wow… you two are even more demented then I thought." Said Rachel, turning around in her seat. But they hadn't even heard the comment, because they were laughing so hard.

"Don't listen to her. She's just jealous you're having such a good time. It's gonna be good to be home." Said Ryan, plopping down in the seat in the middle of them. Sam looked over and saw Jen tense up just slightly before she relaxed again.

"You guys mind me sitting here?" he asked.

"Not at all." Said Sam, not thinking of Jen. She looked over at her, and Jen was smiling, so she obviously didn't care.

"You guys ever been out of the country?" asked Ryan.

"Nope. The only place I've been is San Francisco." Said Sam.

"I've never even been out of Nevada." Jen laughed.

"You're gonna love it here." Said Ryan, sounding very sure of himself.

"I'm sure we will, but I'm sure I'm gonna miss everybody in about three days." Said Sam. _Jake, _Jen mouthed at her. Sam narrowed her eyes at Jen, as to look very angry.

"What's with you two?" asked Ryan.

"Nothin." Said Jen sweetly, "Only Sam's got a crush." Ryan smirked at Sam.

"Really…" he said sounding very interested.

"No, Jen just has a mental problem." Sam said glaring at Jen.

"I don't think so…" said Ryan smirking again. "And I think I know who it is."

"Really? And who would that be?" asked Sam; curious to know who he thought she would fall for.

"Drum roll please…" Ryan said, and Jen pounded on the airplane window until the flight attendant told her to quiet down.

"Our one- and only- Jake Ely!" he said in whisper. Sam rolled her eyes.

"Why not, Sam?" asked Jen.

"Yea, come on, Sam. You guys are perfect for each other." Said Ryan excitedly.

"Ew, no we are not. All we do is fight. Tell me what's so perfect about that?" Sam asked.

"Don't tell me you don't see it?" said Ryan with a grin.

"What?" asked Sam, giving him a confused look.

"The way he looks at you." Said Ryan with a grin.

"Which way?" said Sam, honestly confused.

"The way you look at someone when they really mean something to them." Continued Ryan.

"I mean _nothing _to Jake." Said Sam with certainty.

"I wouldn't bet on it." Said Jen.

"Why would he like me?" asked Sam, still positive that he didn't.

"Okay, Jen and I will make a list." Said Ryan.

"You do that." Said Sam and leaned back in her seat with a sigh. This could be a long ride.

"Okay, it's done." Said Jen after ten minutes of Sam having to sit and listen to them laughing and watch them give her strange looks.

**The Reasons Why:**

_He's always watching you when you don't know it._

"What do you mean he's always watching me when I don't know it? You make him sound like some kind of stalker!" Sam exclaimed with a laugh of disbelief.

"No… not a stalker, just an… admirer." Said Ryan, mysteriously.

"Right…" said Sam sarcastically.

_He always wants to protect you even though you don't really need it._

"The reason he protects me is because he feels guilty that he got me hurt and sent away to San Francisco." She told them, as if they should already know that.

"That's what he _wants _you to think." Said Jen. "But we all see that it's more than that Sam."

"Shush and let me read the rest of this phony list."

They fell into silence as she read.

_He always shows up even when you don't want him around. And he won't leave._

_You both love horses._

_He spends a ton of time at your house._

_Your dad really likes him._

_He's one of your best friends._

_You've known him forever._

_He talks to you even though he doesn't really talk a lot to anyone else._

_He thinks you're pretty._

_You think he's cute too._

_You hugged him._

_He hugged back._

"You guys are wrong and I'll tell you why. Half the things you wrote are completely phony." Sam told them after she had spent only about half a minute reading their list.

"Which ones are phony?" Ryan asked in disbelief as if he had thought the list was crystal clear.

"Okay, he always shows up when I don't want him to. But he does leave." Sam insisted.

"No he doesn't." said Jen, with a smile. "I'm right."

"No, you're not, but you can believe whatever you want." Said Sam.

"Okay, tell me why the rest of my list is a fake." Jen demanded.

"Okay, so we love horses. That doesn't mean we like each other. You and Ryan like horses does that mean you like each other?" said Sam, not caring how evil she was being towards her best friend. Jens eyes widened but she caught herself.

"No, we didn't say you liked each other because of horses. We said you were perfect for each other because you both liked horses." Jen insisted, though Sam could see her face growing rather red.

"Sure… he spends a lot of time at my house because he wants to help out. Being neighborly, Jen. That's how we are around here."

"Uh, huh." Said Jen, rolling her eyes.

"My dad likes him. Okay, sure. He likes all the Elys. But deal. He is one of my best friends. Once again, so what. I've known him forever. Yes, I have. But that doesn't mean that I like him. I mean, you can't really choose who you've known forever. You just know them. He talks to me, because we've known each other forever- as you've already felt the need to point out." Sam was about to continue when Jen stopped her.

"I've known him forever, he doesn't even talk to me, hardly." Said Jen.

"Sure he does. And you guys are too much alike. You fight too much." Sam insisted. Jen could be really overbearing sometimes, and Jake wasn't really up for that. She wasn't even sure why he put up with her. _Maybe he does like me…_she thought for a second, and then shook her head. _Of course he doesn't! And I don't want him to either!_

"Okay, let's continue. He doesn't think I'm pretty. You just decided he does, because you guys like being matchmakers. And I do _not _think he's cute. Come on, tell me, what's cute about him?" Sam demanded.

"I don't think anything's cute about him." Said Jen, "But _you _do. You think he has very nice eyes." Said Jen.

_Mustang eyes… _thought Sam, blushing slightly just for a second. But even a second was enough for Jen and Ryan to pick up on it.

"She just blushed!" Ryan exclaimed.

"Did not!" Sam shouted.

"You so did." Said Jen.

"It's freaking hot in here!" Sam insisted.

"Sure, so you like his eyes huh Sam?"

"I don't!" Sam insisted.

"Yes you do. What's so nice about his eyes?" asked Ryan.

"No-thing." Sam said again, enunciating each syllable clearly.

"Okay, we'll move on, but I'm going to be the one to tell Jake that you think his eyes are nice. If you won't." Jen told her.

"No you won't. Because it's not true. So you can tell him whatever you want." Sam said haughtily.

"I'll remember that." Said Jen, her eyes narrowing suspiciously at Sam.

**So what did you think? I thought it was cheesy. Read and Review please!**

_Snappleapple518_


	2. Yoga?

**Chapter 2**:

"So, this is London..." said Sam, slightly in awe.

"Great isn't it?" said Ryan, an almost boyish excitement creeping into his voice.

"It's beautiful..." said Jen, and everything was quiet for a moment when Mrs. Ely's voice broke through the crowd. She had to go on the trip because it had a lot to do with historical stuff and she was the history teacher.

"Boys and girls, we're going to be landing in about two minutes. You'll be instructed to put your seat belts on. Do what the pilot says." She said, looking sternly at the Sam's class. Everyone proceeded to do as told. Even though Mrs. Ely was a small woman she had the strength of a lion in her. If she told you to do something, you did it. No questions asked.

After they landed and all boarded off the plane, Sam noticed that Ryan was really quiet.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine… it's just, well it's good to be home." Said Ryan.

"If you like home so much, then why don't you stay here all the time?" Sam asked.

"Well, I like it and all, but there are a lot of things I like back in Nevada too." She wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but she thought she saw him steal a quick glance at Jen. Sam didn't say anything about it though. Ryan was kind of shy, unlike his sister Rachel.

"Yeah, after living in San Francisco it was really nice to get back to Nevada. It's a big change but… it's home to me, no matter what." Said Sam.

"Yeah." Said Ryan and then he stop talking, and just looked around him. She didn't interrupt his thoughts and then began to talk to Jen.

"He looked at you." She whispered in her ear.

"What?" said Jen, in a confused manner.

"He said _are a lot of things I like back in Nevad_a and then he looked at you." Said Sam, with a grin.

"No he didn't." and then she began to blush. Sam could tell she was pleased.

"Sure he did. What if he likes you? What will you do?" asked Sam.

"Uh, well, he doesn't. But I'm not sure I'd know what to do even if he did." Said Jen, looking thoughtful. And then she continued, her eyes looking mischievous. "What would you do?" she asked.

"If Ryan liked me?" asked Sam, confused. "Why would he like me?"

"No, not Ryan. Jake." Jen said, her eyebrows raised.

"He doesn't. And if he did, which he doesn't, I'd tell him to back off and get a life." Said Sam seriously.

"You'd say that?" said Jen shocked. "No you would not."

"Yes I would too." Sam insisted.

"No you wouldn't. You hate it when Jake's sad." Said Jen.

"He's my friend. If you or Ryan were sad, I would hate it too." She said adamantly.

"Whatever…" Jen said, rolling her eyes.

---

It was only when they arrived at their hotel that they were told who they were going to room with.

"Are you kidding?" Sam screamed.

"No, I'm not. You and I are going to having the pleasure of rooming with Rachel Slocum."

"We better hope that we're lucky and she's in at least a kind of good mood." Said Sam.

"Good mood- Rachel Slocum… when have those words ever gone together?" Jen said, sighing.

"Hey, you guys talking about me?" said a voice from behind them. They turned around to see Rachel Slocum with a nasty sneer on her face.

"Everyone always is." Said Sam sarcastically.

"Okay. Well anyways… as long as we're being forced to room together I have a couple rules to put into place." Said Rachel perkily.

"Rules? Are you kidding me?" said Jen, looking trapped.

"No, I wasn't. I just want you to know that I get to watch whatever I want on the TV whenever I want to. Boys _will_ be coming into the room. I know that's against their rules, but really come on, their rules, my rules, which ones are more important? I don't even think we need to answer that one. I'm going to need the bathroom for at least three hours a day. Sorry girls." She turned around and pranced into their room.

"Three hours?" said Sam looking at Jen with disbelief written all over her face, "What is she planning on doing in the bathroom for _three _hours a day?"

"Who knows? She's crazy. But at least if boys are coming into the room then we can blame her when they do come in. I mean, what boys do we want to come in?" said Jen brightly.

"Uh, well there is that one boy you'd like to come in." said Sam grinning.

"Shut up." Said Jen, smacking Sam on the shoulder.

"Well, let's go see what little princess is doing now." Said Jen, leading the way into the room.

When the entered the room they were met by a slightly astonishing sight. Already in the room were three boys. Three boys watching Rachel Slocum do some yoga. Yoga!

"How did they get in here without us knowing?" said Sam, her voice full of disbelief.

"I let them in of course." Said Rachel, and then looked back towards the TV and continued following the yoga instructor on the screen.

"What are you doing?" asked Sam.

"Yoga, duh." Said a boy with short dark hair, who Sam thought was the captain of the football team.

"Don't duh, me." Said Sam, "You're the one that's in my room!" she shouted, and ran out. Jen followed her out the door. Once outside Sam fell against the wall and cracking up.

"Yoga?" said Jen, her voice wheezing from the laugher.

"What about yoga?" asked a voice from behind Sam.

They turned around to see Ryan Slocum and an unfamiliar boy standing behind them.

"Yeah, there's three guys in our room right now. And they're watching your sister do yoga." Said Sam smirking.

"Yoga?" said Ryan.

"Exactly what I said." Said Sam with a laugh. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Alex. He used to go to school with me. I told him that I'd be coming here in a while and he said that he'd meet up with me at some point. Alex, this is Sam. And this is Jen." They all shook each others hands, and Sam found herself blushing. With is dark hair and light blue eyes, Alex was certainly very cute. But Sam didn't usually act that way if someone was cute. She sighed. Maybe she was losing it. First hugging Jake, now she was blushing… what would happen next?

"So…" said Ryan, "Uh, we were going to go get something to eat. You guys want to join us?" he asked. He looked at Jen for a second when he said this. Jen had looked away for a moment so she didn't notice. When she looked up, Sam saw that her eyes were unusually bright. She smiled.

"Sure. We're starved, right Sam?" she said looking at her best friend.

"Right." Said Sam, even though she wasn't very hungry at all. She didn't know why Ryan would be either. They had all eaten on the plane. But they again, he was a guy so you never knew when they were going to be full. She'd figure she'd just tag along for Jen's sake… maybe get a soda or something. She knew that Jen would want to go with them, and Sam didn't want to spoil her fun. And plus a cute guy was coming along so why wouldn't she want to? Sam blushed at the thought. What was happening to her?

"Hey, Sam. You coming?" asked a Ryan, while snapping his finger in front of her face.

"Uh, yeah. I guess I just zoned out for a while there." She said apologetically.

"I guess so." Said Jen, with a smirk.

---

They walked to a pizza place that wasn't far away from the hotel after asking their Mrs. Ely for permission. Mrs. Ely figured that Ryan must know his way around here pretty well since he had lived there before.

"This is cute." Said Jen, looking at the quaint looking building sitting before her.

"You like pizza?" said Alex, turning towards Sam, who was standing next to him.

"Who doesn't?" said Sam with a smile. She almost blushed even though nothing at all embarrassing had happened.

The pizza in the restaurant was very good, and Sam saw that Alex ate nine slices. She didn't know where he put it. After all, he was just as skinny as Ryan, who was built like an athlete.

"Apparently you like pizza too," said Sam with a grin.

"You bet. Well my mom's side of the family is all Italian so my grandmother and my mom are always cooking really good Italian food. Trust me, this doesn't even compare to their cooking. You should eat it some of it. It's great." He said with a look of longing in his eyes.

"Well I don't know when I'd get the chance, but it sounds good. Then again, at this point I'm all pizza-ed out." Said Sam with a laugh.

"I could go for three more slices." Said Alex, his eyes twinkling.

"Oh, my goodness. You have got to be kidding! You already had nine." Sam exclaimed.

"Well I was kidding. And hey, look, you counted." Said Alex with a laugh.

"I couldn't help it. It was an impressive feat." Said Sam.

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet." He told her.

"So you usually eat more than that?" Sam asked, astonished.

"No, I think my all-time high is fourteen." He announced.

"Fourteen! That's outrageous." Sam exclaimed.

"I was _really _hungry." He smiled.

---

"So you and Alex seemed to get along pretty well tonight." Jen commented later while they were recounting the events of the day. Fortunately Rachel was gone. Sam and Jen weren't sure where she was, but as long as she wasn't in their room they didn't really care all that much.

"He's a nice guy." Sam said and then she was silent.

"He's a nice _cute _guy." Said Jen with a smile. Sam almost blushed again, and then she caught herself.

"You think he's cute?" said Sam, trying to pretend as if she hadn't noticed.

"Sure. Don't act as if you don't." said Jen, rolling her eyes at Sam.

"I seriously don't." Sam insisted.

"Oh, so maybe this isn't just Jake Ely that you're in denial about. Maybe it's the whole male gender. You don't have to be embarrassed, Sam." Said Jen with an intrigued smile on her face.

"It is so not. There's guy that I think are cute." Sam insisted.

"Right. Try to name one." Said Jen.

"Uh, um, Rjay." Said Sam, and then covered her mouth realizing who she had just said. She didn't even think that Rjay was cute but he was the first boy that had come to her mind. Jen broke into a hysterical laughter.

"Are you kidding me? You think he's cute? That's great, Sam! You guys could so totally get together!" Jen said, her voice sounding like an excited little one year old\"Actually it is. I don't think he is cute. He's just the first boy who popped into my head when you asked.

"Right, Sam. Don't try to get out of it now. But really I thought you always liked Jake. Rjay never even would have popped into my head as a suggestion." Said Jen looking slightly baffled.

"That's because he's not a choice. I have absolutely _no _romantic feelings towards Rjay. Trust me. We're best friends. Would I lie to you? And plus doesn't every gut feeling tell you that I don't like Rjay?" said Sam, trying to convince Jen that she didn't like Rjay. And she really didn't.

"But every gut feeling tells me that you like Jake and you won't admit to that. So how am I to believe that you don't like Rjay?" asked Jen.

"You know, sometimes I think he likes me. But I certainly don't like him. If I were to have my head chopped off and I had to choose Jake or Rjay I would definitely pick Jake." Said Sam.

"Really?" asked Jen. "Well of course you would. You in LOOOOVE with him." She teased.

"No, I just know him a lot better." Said Sam.

"And you love his eyes." Jen reminded her.

"I do NOT love his eyes!" Sam shouted.

"Whatever, Sam. Someday when you two realize, you're just going to have to admit that you do, and always will love Jake Ely. No matter what happens. Even if you can't see it the rest of us can see it coming." Said Jen proudly.

And that was when Rachel walked in.

"Sam loves Jake?" said Rachel, her eyebrows raised higher than Sam had ever seen them before. "Thank God she finally admitted it. Come on, Sam, it's making us sicker and sicker every day."

"I DO NOT LOVE JAKE!" Sam shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Well I don't know why not." Said Rachel, shrugging her shoulders. "Jake Ely is absolutely gorgeous. I mean, have you seen those eyes?" She said, looking impressed. "Unfortunately he's the one boy who doesn't give me the time of day."

"You like Jake?" said Sam, astonished at this sudden breakthrough.

"I did not say I liked him, I just said he was hot. There is a definite difference between those two things. Now, you my friend love Jake Ely. I only think he'd be a good catch. Except for the fact that he never says anything. But you know, maybe he's the strong silent type." She said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Sam likes his eyes, too." Said Jen with a smirk.

"I DID NOT SAY THAT." Sam said firmly.

"Come on, cowgirl. You can live in denial, or embrace the hot thing coming for you. Which one sounds cooler?" said Rachel rolling her eyes at Sam.

"I'm not sure there is a hot thing coming for me. And if it is, it's definitely not Jake." Sam said with a laugh.

"I can not believe her!" said Jen looking at Rachel. "How long is it going to take for her to realize that deep-down Jake will always be her prince in shining armor? Or his shining Stetson if you like that kind of thing…"

Jen trailed off looking right at Sam.

"I don't know if you guys are looking for some kind of confession time or something… but you're not going to get it, because I have nothing to confess. Absolutely nothing." Sam said with a nod of her head.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Sam ran to see who it was, glad to be out of her current situation.

Little did she know that she was about to get herself into a bigger problem altogether.

She opened the door to see Ryan and Alex standing outside.

"Did someone say confession time?" asked Alex, grinning at Sam, his blue eyes twinkling.

_So what did you think of it? It was a pretty fun one for me to write. I love writing fics where Sam is in denial about her feelings. Those are such fun! So even if you didn't like, or if you did, still review it._

_**Snappleapple518**_


	3. Surely not, Surely yes

**Chapter 3**

Sam stood stock still in the door, frozen to the floor.

"Cat got your tongue?" asked Ryan smiling.

"Uh," she cleared her throat. "Uh, no. I'm fine." Said Sam, with a forced smile.

"So can we come in?" asked Ryan, "It's pretty boring over at my room." Ryan told her.

"Why is Alex still here?" asked Sam.

"Trying to get rid of me, Sam?" Alex asked with a grin.

"No, I, well you're not staying here, so I thought that you would you know, eventually have to go home." She said, looking down at the ground.

"Well, for your information, Sam, I live right down the street." He told her.

"Oh, uh really?" she said, her voice squeaking slightly.

"Yeah. So can we come in?" Alex asked.

"Sam!" Jen called from the back of the room, "Who's out there?!"

Sam looked back for a moment.

"It's Ryan and Alex, they want to come in!" she yelled.

"Fine!" Jen called, "Just close the door before Mrs. Ely finds out what we're doing." Sam ushered the two boys into the room, and hurriedly shut the door. Alex gave her a weird look as she walked past.

"What _are _we doing?" whispered Jen as Sam walked over and stood next to her. On one side of the room stood Jen, Sam, and Rachel, and on the other side stood Ryan and Alex.

"So what were you three ladies doing before we ruined your little party?" asked Alex.

"Sam was just denying the fact that she's in love." Rachel proceeded to tell the boys.

"In love, Sam? Huh? Who's the lucky guy?" asked Alex with his eyebrows raised, his blue eyes twinkling. Sam felt the blood rush to her cheeks.

"I've told them a million times that I am not in love with Jake." Sam said, her voice faltering.

"Jake…" Alex's voice trailed off, "He cute?" he teased.

"No, no he's not." Said Sam, "He's one of my best friends, he's a really nice guy. But I don't like him and he's not cute."

It was at this point that Rachel whipped out the yearbook.

"Here, Alex. Take a look for yourself. I think he's cute. I don't know why Sam won't admit it." Rachel laughed, "Maybe her feelings are just so strong that she'll be embarrassed."

Rachel opened the yearbook up to a page that had the junior class on it.

Rachel pointed to a picture of Jake. Sam leaned over to see it. She had a yearbook but she'd never really looked to see Jake's picture before.

"See… she wants to look at it again." Ryan said.

"I don't want to see it again. I've never even seen it once before. I never thought it mattered, but as long as all of you are going to act like a bunch of idiots I might as well take a peek to see how my friend's picture turned out." She shook her head, trying to get the hair out of her eyes.

When she leaned over the yearbook to see she saw that Jake's picture had turned out very well. His eyes shown very bright and he looked just as much like the horseman that he really was. Above all she noticed that he looked older than the rest of the boys in his class. He looked as if he had been through more hardship. She wondered if people would look into her eyes and see that as well.

"She's so into him!" Alex exclaimed.

"What?" asked Sam shaking her head, as if she hadn't heard right.

"Sam," said Jen, "You've been staring at that picture for almost a full minute now. We called your name at least six times." She smiled.

"No," said Sam, "Don't try to get me to feel things that I don't. Because as for my feelings for Jake… well they don't exist!" she shouted and ran out of the room.

She headed down the hall, not sure where she was heading, but not really caring either. She ended up at Rjay's room.

She knocked the door, not realizing that the tears were spilling down her face.

He opened the door, and immediately looked concerned.

"Sam, what's wrong?" he asked.

"It's a long story. Uh, could I stay here for a while? I just need some quiet. And I need to use my phone." She told him.

"Are you're okay?" asked Rjay again.

"I'm fine. I just, I just need to call someone." She said, her voice faltering.

"Who?" he asked.

"I, I don't know." She said. Even though she did.

_Listen. If you get in trouble, you just call me okay, Brat? _She remembered his words so clearly. And thankfully she knew that though Jake wasn't too skilled talking on the phone, he could usually make her feel better.

"Okay, Sam. Don't tell me. Come in." Rjay sighed, gesturing through the door.

Sam nodded her thanks, and then walked through the door, pulling her cell phone out as she sat on the bed. Sam was about to dial the number when she looked up and saw Rjay watching her.

She wanted him to leave, but she didn't want to say anything. After all- this was _his _room.

"You want me to leave?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

"Would you?" she asked, her face looking apologetic.

"Whatever, Sam. Just don't take long." He said, once again, looking at her as if she was a nuisance.

She punched in the number. It took a few rings and finally someone picked it up. She knew it was one of the Ely boys, but she wasn't sure which one. It wasn't Jake.

"Hey, who's this?" the person asked.

"Sam, uh, which one of you guys is that?" she asked.

"Nate. Uh, you wanna talk to Jake, I suppose." She could almost see his sarcastic grin even from thousands of miles away.

"Would you get him for me?" she asked.

"Maybe…" he said, and for a moment there was silence, "Yeah, sure, Sam. I', not the kind of guy to deny true love." He laughed. Her face grew hot, and her eyes clouded with anger.

"Listen, I don't know where you people are getting these ideas… but honestly. Well, you're all lunatics. I just need to talk to Jake for a second.

"Wow, don't blow up on me. I was joking." He said, sounding apologetic, but she wasn't sure he really was.

"I do not care Nathan Ely. I do not care. Just let me speak to Jake." She gritted down on her teeth, willing herself to not let out a scream.

"Sure, sure." He said. She heard a lot of clattering and then Jake mumbled something into the phone. Or at least she thought it was Jake. His method of communication made it slightly hard to figure out exactly who it was.

"Is that you Jake?" she asked, sniffing, trying to hold back another sudden torrent of tears.

"Uh, yeah." He was silent for a moment. "Is something wrong?" Short and to the point; that was Jake. But despite his sometimes sullen attitude, she knew that if something was wrong, Jake could most likely help.

"Uh, well um, kind of. Everyone's bein a jerk to me." Said Sam.

"Who?" he asked.

"Jen, Ryan… Alex." She had added his name as an afterthought.

"Alex? Who's Alex?" he asked. She noticed a hint of interest in his voice.

"Uh, well he's just this kid." She said, not sure how exactly to explain who Alex was.

"Just this kid? Where did you meet him?" he asked. Now she felt like she was being interrogated.

"He's just one of Ryan's friends." Said Sam dismissively.

"Oh…" he said, but he sounded suspicious. "So why were they being jerks?"

"Oh, they're making… um, comments." She said after a moment. Why had she called Jake? What the heck did she think she was going to say to him? _Hey, Jake. Everyone here thinks I love you, and well I don't. So I just wanted you to know that._

"What the heck?" said Jake sounding shocked.

"Uh, I didn't say anything." She protested.

"Um, yes you did." He said.

And then he hung up the phone.

"Jake? Jake?" she shouted, loud and then louder, thinking that maybe the phone line had just cut out for a second.

What had she said? And it was then that she realized: _Hey, Jake. Everyone here thinks I love you, and well I don't. So I just wanted you to know that. _Surely she hadn't said that aloud. Surely not.

Surely yes.

She ran a hand through her short auburn hair and dialed the number again.

It rang about eight times and then the machine picked up.

"Uh, Jake…" she spoke into the machine, hoping that he would pick up, but somehow knowing that he wouldn't. Jake was not the kind of person who reveled in controversy. Actually, he avoided it at all costs. "If you're there could you pick up? Jake? Come on, Jake. I didn't mean what I said. Well, I mean, I did. What did I say? Anyways, could you call me when you get the chance? Thanks." she asked.

She sighed and flopped down on the bed.

Why did she always make such a mess of things?


	4. Strawberry, Always Strawberry

**Chapter 4: Strawberry, Always Strawberry**

Sam stormed out of the room with a sudden craving for chocolate ice-cream. She didn't even notice that she was crying.

Unfortunately, Rjay did.

"Sam what's wrong?" he asked, as she entered the hallway.

"Um, uh, nothing?" she said, but it was more of a question than a statement.

"You sure?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

"Uh, yeah." She smiled. "I'm sure. You wanna go downtown and get some ice-cream?" she asked him.

"Can't right now. I've got some stuff to do." He said apologetically.

"Come on. I don't wanna go by myself. Pleeaase?" she said, smiling at him.

"Okay." He rolled his eyes at her. "Let's go."

Before she knew it they had ended up at a small restaurant called _The Parlor of Ice-Cream_.

The smell of chocolate ice-cream wafted towards her. She breathed in deeply, and smiled.

"This is the place." She declared, turning and smiling at him.

"Whatever you want, Sam." He rolled his eyes again. She hadn't ever seen him roll his eyes before, and today he had rolled them twice already in about a ten minute period.

They entered and walked up to the counter, where a French looking teenager stood looking nervously at them.

"Um, he, hello, do you know what you want yet?" he asked.

"Well I know I want chocolate… I'm not sure what he wants though." Said Sam, looking at Rjay, who was peering at the list of selections that was hung on the wall.

"Strawberry. Always Strawberry." He said smiling dreamily. Sam turned and gave him a strange look.

"What?" he asked defensively.

"Uh, you just looked really weird when you said that." She told him.

"No, I didn't." he insisted, but his cheeks flushed slightly.

"Whatever. You don't have to tell me what's so special about the flavor strawberry. It's probably stupid anyways." She said, nonchalantly.

"No, she's not!" Rjay shouted, and ran towards the exit of the ice-cream shop.

She turned towards the boy holding the two cones and shrugged apologetically in his direction.

"Doesn't he want his cone?" the boy asked, his voice squeaking slightly.

"No, no, I guess he doesn't." said Sam, taking her cone, handing the boy his money, and then turning to leave. "You can have it if you want, though."

She didn't wait to hear his response to this, and rushed away to find Rjay.

---

"So where do you think Sam is?" asked Jen, who was standing in a circle with Ryan, Alex, and Rachel.

"I don't know. She's really overly dramatic." Said Rachel, rolling her eyes.

"Well, only because we pushed her over the edge." Jen told Rachel, always willing to defend her best friend.

"Oh, please. Think about it. If she _really _didn't like Jake, she wouldn't be so upset about it. She'd just laugh it off. She's just nervous because she thinks we're going to find out or something. I don't know why she's so nervous about it. I mean, seriously, it's not like we didn't suspect it already." Rachel rolled her eyes again.

"Maybe she's just sick of people bugging her about it. Maybe she doesn't like Jake." Said Jen, almost shouting.

"Come, on, Jen. Who's side are you on?" Alex asked.

"Sam's." Jen exclaimed.

"Well, a minute ago, you didn't seem like you were on Sam's side. It sure seemed like you were on ours. So if you want to be on Sam's side, you better go and tell her that. Cause I'm pretty sure she didn't pick up on it." Rachel said sarcastically.

Ryan had been silent the whole time. But after a moment he spoke up.

"I'm on Sam's side too…" he said quietly.

"Are you kidding?" Alex asked, "You two are the ones that started this in the first place."

"And we're the ones that are going to stop it, too." Said Ryan with a nod. He took Jen's hand and they both stomped out of the room.

Even though the moment was serious, Jen couldn't help noticing the shiver that ran up her arm when he'd touched her.

And the flip that her heart had done.

As they stormed out of the room they heard Rachel screaming in the background.

"Come on Ryan! You can't switch sides! We're family! Doesn't that mean anything!?" she shouted.

Ryan didn't even look back.

_Sorry it's such a short chapter, guys. But I'm not feeling particularly inspired right now. I didn't even plan that Strawberry thing, but it just popped up out of nowhere, lol. Writing is so much fun, haha. Okay, so if you read it, review it! Pleeease?_

_Happy Thanksgiving,_

_Snappleapple518_


	5. I'd Classify it as Sobbing

**Chapter 5: I'd Classify it as Sobbing**

As they stormed out of the room Jen's appreciation for Ryan grew more and more. Everyone always said that he didn't have a backbone. Jen had always defended him. She'd always told everyone that when the time came for Ryan to stand up for himself he would.

And he had.

When they were about halfway down the hallway Jen stopped and turned towards Ryan.

"That was really cool what you did back there." She said, her eyes showing her admiration.

"Thanks, Jen." He smiled, "But I didn't do it for me. I did it for you."

"Me?" Jen asked, confused. This had nothing to do with her.

"Yes, you." He said simply, and began to walk again, "but let's go find Sam now."

She stood still for a second, trying to figure out what he was talking about. And then realizing that he wasn't going to stop, she ran after him.

---

Jen and Ryan found Sam sitting outside The Parlor of Ice-cream with a stupefied look on her face.

"Sam?" Jen asked, snapping a finger in front of her face. Sam didn't respond until Jen snapped a couple more times.

"Sam, are you okay?" asked Ryan.

Sam looked up at him, but she still didn't look as if she was quite there.

"I don't know what's wrong with him." She said quietly.

"Who, Sam?" Jen prodded, "Who?"

"Uh, no one. Rjay. He was looking up at the ice-cream board-" Sam began and then she was cut off by Jen.

"You went to get ice-cream with Rjay?" she looked shocked.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I was in his room and then-"

"You were in his room!" Jen shrieked.

"Well, I was using my phone." Sam told her rolling his eyes.

"Oh, well who were you calling?" Jen asked this time.

"What is this, a police investigation? I just had to call someone, and then I wanted uh, ice-cream, don't ask. So Rjay was looking at the ice-cream board and he's all _strawberry, always strawberry_. And he said it kind of strangely. So I looked at him weird and he wouldn't tell me why he was acting all goofy. So I then I told him that it was probably stupid anyways… and he runs out screaming _No, she isn't_!"

"Huh?" Ryan raised his eyebrows.

"My reaction exactly." Sam rolled her eyes.

"So did you talk to him about it?" Jen asked.

"Uh, no, he ran off. I think he went back to the hotel." Sam told them.

"Okay, why don't we go find him?" Jen suggested.

"Okay." Said Sam, and she started to stand up and head towards the hotel.

"And Sam, me and Jen we're sorry that we didn't stand up for you when you told us you didn't like Jake." Ryan said, his eyes looking very sincere indeed. Jen nodded her head in agreement.

"Thanks guys. Don't worry about it. And uh, well I told you that I didn't like Jake. But I kind of told Jake too." She grimaced.

"When?!" Jen looked shocked.

"Well, I called him on my cell-phone right after I left you guys. That was what I was doing in Rjay's room." Sam explained.

"So what'd he say?" Jen urged Sam to go on.

"He didn't." Sam said bluntly.

"What do you mean he didn't? He must have said _something._" Jen insisted.

"He didn't, okay? He didn't say anything." Sam swiveled around and raced towards the hotel, not caring if Jen and Ryan could keep up with her.

She ran faster than she had ever run before. Because she didn't want Jen and Ryan to see the tears welling up in her eyes.

---

When she got back to room she collapsed on the bed. Fortunately Rachel wasn't there to see her tears. Unfortunately Sam wasn't that must faster of a runner than Jen and Ryan and they came in the room to see her sprawled on the bed with tears in her eyes.

"Sam, why are you crying?" asked Jen. Ryan stepped out of the room at that point. He didn't do well with crying females. And he figured that Sam probably didn't want him to see her crying anyways...

"I'm not." Sam insisted, even as she was wiping tears from her eyes.

"Sam, if you do like Jake you can tell me." Jen said gently, as if to coax a lie out of a small child.

"I don't though, Jen. You see, I don't." Sam was adamant.

"Why are you crying then?" she asked.

"Well, I may not _like_ Jake, but Jake is my best friend, besides you of course." Jen smiled, "and I do care about him a lot. And well, he's just never hung up on me before, and well you know, Jake doesn't talk much, Jen. But he does listen. He _always _listens. And by slamming that phone down he pretty much told me that he wasn't going to listen anymore. And…" it was then that Sam began to cry like Jen had never heard her cry before. Jen would have classified it as sobbing.

At this point Jen became angry. No one made her best friend sob and get away with it.

"Well, you know what, Sam? I'm going to _make _Jake listen."

She stormed out of the room with a determined look on her face, her white blonde braids flying.

_So what did you think? I would have wrote something about Rjay, but I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen with that part so I figured I better just leave well enough alone rather than ruin the whole plot line. If you have any suggestions you can tell me what you think about the whole Rjay thing. I have a basic idea… well no I don't. I thought I did, but the details are very foggy. This story, though I didn't like it at first, is really starting to grow on me Well… be good citizens and review. You know you wanna! I mean, come on, if you're going to read the story, you might as well review, doncha think? I always do._

_I wish the world was- (wait that's an ASOUE thing, um… I'm not sure if there is a PS slogan… if there is… I DON'T KNOW IT!)_

_sNaPPleAPPle518_


	6. The Heartbreaking Rude Monster

**Chapter 6: The Heartbreaking Rude Monster**

Jen tried to stand still as the phone rang, but something inside her kept her shaking. Maybe it was excitement… or maybe it was anger. Jen wasn't sure.

"Hello?" asked a male voice as he picked up the phone.

"Yes, who is this?" asked Jen.

"This is Nate." He told her.

"Oh, hello Nate. This is Jen Kentworthy, and I was wondering if I could speak to your brother." She asked.

"Which one, Jen? I've got a bunch. But we'll just assume you mean Jake. He's been getting a lot of phone calls today." Nate laughed.

"Yes, I did mean Jake. And the reason he's been getting a lot of phone calls is because he's a heartbreaking rude monster." Jen told him bluntly.

"Who's heart did he break? Oh, you mean Sam?" Nate asked.

"Sam doesn't even like him. But he was really mean to her, and he told her he didn't ever want to talk to her again." Jen told him.

"What do you mean, Sam doesn't like Jake? It's a known fact, Jen. Sam likes Jake. Jake likes Sam. It's always been that way… it's just that neither of them is man enough to admit it. And I know my brother, he wouldn't tell Sam that. He's so much nicer to her than he is to the rest of us." Nate told Jen.

"No, he's not. Okay, he did say he didn't want to talk to her. But maybe not in so many words." Jen admitted.

"What did he say, then?" asked Nate curiously.

"Just get me Jake." Jen growled.

"Oh, all right. Don't get all grumpy on me." Jen heard some shuffling of the phone and she heard what she thought was Jake's voice on the other line. There were so many males at the Ely household that it was hard to figure out which one was which.

"Hello?" said a quiet voice on the other end.

"Is that you, Jake?" Jen snapped. At this point getting Jake on the phone was becoming ridiculous.

"Yeah." Said Jake simply.

"Well, I hope you're happy." Jen said bitterly.

"What about?" asked Jake, obviously oblivious to the fact that Sam was lying on a hotel room bed crying as they spoke. And all because of him.

"You know what this is about, Mr. Ely."

"Actually, Jen, no I don't." Jake told her.

"Don't be an idiot. Sam is crying as we speak." Jen told him.

"What happened? If someone hurt her I'll kill them! Who hurt her?" Jake asked, sounding more concerned and angry than Jen had ever heard him sound before.

"You better get ready to kill yourself, because you're the one who hurt her. You're the reason she's crying!" Jen shouted.

"What the heck did I do?" asked Jake, sounding slow.

"You slammed the frickin phone down on her! Are you a complete and total MORON!?" Jen yelled.

"Whoa, now let's not get carried away. That made her cry?" asked Jake, she could see his raised eyebrows from even thousands of miles away.

"Well, yes, it did." Jen said simply.

"Why? It's not like no one's done that to her before." Jake protested.

"No, the question is why did you do that to her, Jake?" asked Jen.

"Well, she said something completely stupid to me. And you know I don't like to talk about, well personal things, and that was what she seemed to want to talk about. And anyway, I didn't slam the phone down on her. For some reason the phone shut off. And then when I looked outside the phone line had been broken somehow. It took us awhile to get it fixed." Jake admitted.

"Are you kidding me? You actually expect me to believe that phony bologna story."

"Yes. Well, okay, so I did hang up. And then I guess she tried to call back. And somehow the phone wasn't working. Not my fault. If I would have heard her calling I would have picked up." Jake stammered.

"Well she doesn't know that. And honestly she's sobbing her eyes out." Jen told him.

"Why does she even care so much? It's not like what I did was that mean." Jake protested.

"Well, apparently she thinks it was mean. And that's all that matters." Jen told him.

"Can I talk to her then?" asked Jake.

"Would you?" asked Jen excitedly.

"Sure, just bring her the phone." Jake told her.

Jen raced down the hallway, skipping to a beat that wasn't there. She pounded on the door and then realized that in the moment she'd forgotten that she had a key. She slipped it in the keyhole and pushed the door open.

And there was Sam. Kissing Alex.

_Sorry so short guys. If it sucked, sorry! Well anyways, read and review. Tell me what you think. If you don't like it PLEASE tell me. That's what I need to know, you guys._

_Thanks,_

_Snappleapple518_


	7. Boys Think They Know Everything

**Chapter 7: Boys- Think They Know Everything**

Jen gasped, but somehow she couldn't make herself turn around. She just stood there gaping at the two of them.

"What!" called a voice. "What happened?"

It took Jen a while to figure out that Jake was trying to talk to her. She looked down at the phone in her hand then realizing that Jake was still on the line.

"What happened, Jen? Is something wrong with Sam?" he yelled.

"Not, wrong… persay." Jen told him, her voice squeaking as she said the last word.

"What do you mean, Jen? Come on. Spit it out. It can't be that bad." Jake pleaded with her.

"Sam's uh kissing some guy." Jen told him, instantly regretting the words the moment they left her mouth.

"Some guy!" Jake shouted. "What do you mean some guy?!" he sounded furious.

Jen paused for a moment, not sure if Jake was being angry… or being jealous.

"Well, I mean, he's not just some guy." Jen told him, and then realized the implications of her words.

"Is he some special guy? Does Sam like him?" Jake asked.

Jen didn't say anything.

"Jen, does Sam like this guy?" Jake asked again.

"Uh…" Jen began, "Kind of, I mean, not really, sort of, uh, I don't really know, I guess?" she said in a confused voice and then sighed.

"Well, get him off her!" Jake shouted.

"I can't really. I mean, if she wants to kiss him, well I guess she can. And, uh, I can't really stop her." Jen told him, feeling weak. She wanted to stop the both of them as well, because somehow deep down it felt wrong to her seeing Sam with anyone but Jake. She knew Sam would never admit it, but Jake and her were something that everyone had always thought of as a given. And if Sam and Jake weren't a given… Jen wasn't sure what was.

"You can too, Jen! Please get him off her!" Jake shouted.

"I can't Jake. And you can't either. And why should I stop her?" Jen asked.

"Just, Stop, Her." Jake said in a very serious voice, pausing after each word."

"Can you tell me why? Cause I don't like doing things without knowing why I'm doing them." Jen told him, thinking that as long as she was going to have to talk to Jake she might as well get some fun out of it.

"Listen, Jen, I need you to get that boy off Sam now. Before someone get's hurt." Jake said, his voice sounding very low and raspy.

"Why, Jake? Come on, who's to stand in the way of true love?" Jen asked, sweetly. She knew that this would make him snap.

"Jen, Sam and-" Jake stopped short. "What's his name?"

"Alex."

"Okay, Jen, Sam and Alex are not in love. Sam is just mad at me and she's letting herself be used. So get them off each other." Jake insisted.

"Listen, Jake. Why do you think that everything in Sam's world revolves around you? Because honestly, maybe she's kissing this Alex character because she _likes _him. Ever thought of that?" Jen asked.

Jake didn't say anything for a moment.

"Okay, Jen, if you're not going to get them off each other. Then I am!" Jake shouted.

"Oh, and how are you going to do that? If you'd kindly remember, you're not in London. You have no power over this." Jen said rolling her eyes. _Boys… think they know everything._

Jake sighed. "Well, could I at least talk to her?" his voice cracked for a second.

"Going through puberty, Jacob?" Jen asked, grinning.

"Give her the freaking phone, Jennifer." Jake sounded extremely angry, and Jen figured maybe it was time to break up the kissing.

She walked over to Sam, who was running her hand through Alex's hair, and tapped her on the shoulder.

Sam slowly drew her mouth away from Alex's and turned to Jen.

"What!" Sam snapped. Then she looked down at the phone. "Who are you talking to?" she asked.

"Just Jake." Jen told her with a smirk.

Hearing his name Sam felt her heart flip over in her chest. She silently reprimanded herself for it. She had been having fun. So what? She shouldn't even care what Jake would think. And somehow she did.

"He wants to talk to you." Jen told her.

Sam stiffened.

"You didn't tell him what I was, um, doing? Did you?" Sam asked.

"Kind of." Jen said, with a grimace.

"Why the heck would you do a thing like that?" Sam sighed. "Well give me the phone." She grabbed it and rushed out of the room, and into a very serious conversation.

"So who's the guy?" asked Alex. Jen snapped her head towards him. She had forgotten he was there.

"Oh, um, Jake. He's like her best friend, besides me." Jen told Alex.

"Why'd she look so freaked then?" Alex asked, his voice sounding bewildered.

"Jake's kind of protective." Jen said seriously.

"Oh, so he likes her?" Alex asked, his mouth turning up into a small smirk.

"Why do you look so happy? I thought you liked Sam." Jen said, confused about why the maniac was smiling.

"Kind of." Alex said shrugging his shoulders casually.

"What do you mean, kind of? Either you like her or you don't." Jen insisted, not sure where the conversation was leading.

"Well, I kind of like Sam. But I'm more into her body." Alex told her.

Jen's face turned bright red, half from embarrassment but half from anger. Jake's words came back to her "Sam is just mad at me and she's letting herself be used."

And before she knew it she'd done it. She'd reached out and slapped him clear across the face.

_So what did you think? Personally for me it wasn't one of the greatest chapters but it was okay. Anyways, I'd like to hear what you think of it. So you know the drill- read and review!_

_Snappleapple519_


	8. Now, Always, and Never

**Chapter 8: Now, Always, and Never**

"What the heck did you do that for!?" Alex shouted.

"Sam is my friend! And you're not going to use her like that! Jake told me that that's what you were doing! And he was right!" Jen shouted, getting right up in his face.

"How would Jake know?! Jake doesn't even know me! He's just mad because I got his girl!" Alex shouted back just as loud.

"Jake's twice the man you'll ever be!" Jen spat and ran from the room slamming the door. She then realized that she'd left Alex in their room alone. But she didn't care. As long as she wasn't in there with Sam.

---

Sam's hands trembled as she held the phone in her hands. She didn't want to talk to Jake about this. It was too personal, and she didn't want to feel accountable to him. But somehow she did anyways.

"Jen! Is Sam there!?" Sam heard Jake yell through the phone. She was taken aback by his genuine sounding concern. She looked down at the phone, and gripped it tightly, so as not to drop it.

"Jen! You told me you'd get her! Jen!" Jake shouted again.

"Jake?" asked Sam, her voice shaking.

"Sam! Thank goodness she finally got you to stop." he said, and he really sounded relieved.

"Stop what, Jake?" Sam asked teasingly, trying to make the conversation less than what it really was.

"You know what you were doing, Sam." Jake told her, he sounded embarrassed.

"Why do you care anyways?" asked Sam, not even realizing what the significance of the question was. Her friends all said that Jake liked her, but she had never considered the possibility. Jake was silent. Sam waited for a moment, but he still didn't say anything.

"Why do you care Jake? And if you don't, then just leave me alone! Because I was having a good time! And all you ever do is stop me from having a good time! If you like me, you like me, if you don't, you don't! But I don't know why you feel the need to be my prince in shining armor all the time. Cause I never asked you to be it! And I never wanted you to be it!" Sam yelled each and every word at the top of her lungs. On the other end Jake sat in stunned silence. He had heard Sam yell… but never like that before.

"Sam?" Jake asked quietly, but she was gone.

"Sam?" he asked again, though he knew she was gone. "It's because I love you Sam. I love you now, I think I always have… and I never want you to get hurt." He then clicked the phone and fell back on the couch, depressed about how his day had gone.

---

"Sam!" Jen yelled as she ran down the hallway of the hotel. "Sam!" She turned the corner and found Sam huddled on in the stairwell, looking hopelessly sad. Jen noticed her face had tear streaks on it, and her eyes were red, but Jen tried not to pay attention to it. Jen drew her best friend into a big hug.

"What's wrong, Sam?" Jen asked. "Is it Jake? Oh, that idiot! I'm gonna kill him, what did he do know!" Jen shouted.

Sam looked up, her tear streaked eyes not seeming completely focused.

"It's not Jake, Jen. It's me, I'm the idiot." Sam said quietly.

"Why, Sam? I can't believe that? Why do you think you're an idiot?" Jen asked, sounding like she was talking to a two year old who had just had a temper tantrum for no reason at all.

"It, it doesn't matter." Sam said quietly, but her lip began to quiver.

"It does matter, Sam. It matters. If it's making you this upset then there must be a reason for it." Jen told her. "You want to tell me?"

Sam shook her head no, but then the story spilled out in a matter of moments. At the end, Sam collapsed, her chest heaving from her deep sobs.

"So you yelled at him. We all yell, Sam. It's not a big deal. Do you want me to get him on the phone again?" Jen asked.

"No, Jen. I don't think I could ever speak to Jake Ely again." Sam said, her voice still choking through the tears.

"Oh, you don't mean that, Sam." Jen scolded, "You're just upset. And by the way, that Alex kid. He's bad news." Jen told her.

"I know…" Sam sighed, "I don't even like him too much. I was just using him because I was mad at Jake."

"Well that's good because he was using you too." Jen told her. Sam giggled, though Jen had thought she would be madder about it.

"So, about Jake… you didn't mean what you said did you? You want me to get him on the phone?" Jen asked again.

"No, Jen, I meant what I said. I never want to speak to that Jake Ely ever again." Sam said seriously.

It was then that the phone rang.

_So what did you guys think of that one? I'm not so sure about all of these phone calls and such but at least you can be assured that the whole SamxAlex thing isn't going to work out. Well, you know the drill… REVIEW! I might have a new chapter up by Christmas, but I'm not really sure about that. I can only hope. There's a lot of stuff going on in my life right now though, cause I have joined the bowling team sigh You wouldn't believe how much time bowling takes up out of your life. My coach is one of those coaches who is like "Bowling is life!" Well anyways, if you don't hear from me before Christmas. Merry Christmas! (Or whatever terminology you enjoy, though Christmas is my holiday of choice.) I wouldn't be able to do finish this story without my faithful reviews, thanks guys!_

_Thanks again for reading,_

_Snappleapple518_


	9. The Denial of Jake Ely

**Chapter 9: The Denial of Jake Ely**

Jen glanced down at the phone and then looked up at Sam and grinned.

"It's too bad that you don't want to speak to Jake Ely ever again… because he just called your phone." Jen smirked at Sam, but from the scowl on Sam's face, Sam didn't to find it very funny.

"So, he called me. That doesn't mean I'm going to talk to him. All I ever do is make a fool of myself around him, and I am completely sick of it." Sam told Jen.

"Well, I'm going to answer it anyways. If you're never going to talk to him again, then I might as well tell him that." Jen clicked the talk button on the phone.

"Hello?" asked Jen in an almost fakely sweet voice.

"Jen? Is that you?" asked Jake sounding confused.

"Yup. I'm guessing you want to talk to Sam." Jen said. It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah, she sort of freaked out on me." Jake told Jen, sounding dubious, as if he didn't understand why she was so mad at him.

"No kidding." Jen replied sarcastically.

"Well can I talk to her?" Jake inquired.

"Sorry, no can do." Jen said, sort of enjoying denying Jake Ely something that he wanted.

"Come on, Jen. I'm being serious." Jake said, sounding just as serious as he had said he was.

"And I'm being serious too, Jake. I'm afraid that Sam has just made it known that she never wants to speak to you again." Jen said, smirking again, loving the feeling of denying Jake Ely of his desire.

"She doesn't mean it, Jen. Just let her have the phone, please, Jen." Jake pleaded with her. Jen loved the feeling of Jake Ely groveling at her feet.

"I can't do that, Jake. She does mean it. Even if I gave her the phone- she wouldn't say anything. So really, what's the point?" asked Jen.

"Give it to her then. I bet I can make her talk." Jake said sounding very confident in his abilities.

"Okay, Jake. I'll give her the phone, but I bet you can't make her talk. When Sam's made up her mind… well she's made up her mind. And even you, despite your charming cowboy qualities," Jen snickered at that, "can't make Sam change her mind. Do I have to remind you she's a Forster?"

Jen handed Sam the phone.

"She's there, Jake. Now you just go on and try to sweet talk her into speaking." Jen laughed. The thought of Jake Ely sweet-talking anyone into anything was just too much for her.

Sam held the phone up to Jen so she could hear what Jake was saying as well.

"Sam? Sam?" He paused for a moment to see if she would utter a word. "Well, I guess you're not going to talk to me, but whatever I did to you, I promise that I'm really sorry about it. If you don't talk to me that's okay, I just want you to know that I'm as sorry about this as I've ever been about anything in my life. Bye, Sam. I hope that eventually you can forgive me for whatever I ever did to you." And then he clicked off the phone.

Jen and Sam just sat for a moment on the bed in silence. He'd sounded so sincere… so un-Jakelike. It was Jen that spoke first.

"He's being so nice, Sam… can't you just forgive him?" Jen asked.

"No, Jen, I can't. He's being nice now, but you don't know him like I do. When I get home he'll go back to being the same old jerk that he always is." Sam told her seriously.

"Sam… but what if he really likes you?" Jen asked. Sam snapped her head toward Jen astonished as to what she'd just heard.

"Jake does not like me. I can absolutely not believe that you would bring that up again." Sam sighed, "Just rub the salt in the wound." It was Jen's turn to snap her head at Sam.

"Do you mean you like, Jake?" asked Jen, astonished… and yet not so astonished.

"I never-" Sam stopped speaking for a moment, "Okay, so maybe I like him a little bit." Sam said quietly, holding her thumb and index finger out to show just how little.

Jen wrapped her friend in a hug, and her face was absolutely beaming.

"Oh, Sam, I thought you'd never figure it out!" Jen shouted.

"You won't tell anyone will you?" asked Sam quietly, still not sure why she had shared this information at this point in time. She figured maybe she had just figured it out herself and she just had to tell someone.

Jen shook her head that she wouldn't, and then her eyes went wide.

"Aren't you going to tell Jake?" asked Jen. It was Sam's turn to have wide eyes.

"Are you crazy?! I can't tell Jake. He'd only laugh at me." Sam sighed again.

"No, he wouldn't Sam. Can't you tell? Jake's crazy about you. He's always been crazy about you. He's just not like normal guys… he's shy you know. He can't just come out and say these things… you've got to urge him on." Jen told her. She didn't know what she would do if Sam refused to tell Jake. I mean, think if they both liked each other, but they were too shy to tell each other? What a waste of a perfect relationship!

"I can't, Jen. I just can't. If he says he doesn't like me… well I don't think I could take rejection like that." Sam confessed.

"Sam!" Jen snapped, her eyes looking wild. "You're not going to have to take rejection like that. Because Jake isn't going to reject you. Jake likes you. Okay, he likes you. He's never told anyone that, but we can all see the way he looks at you. He doesn't look at anyone else like that, Sam." Jen told her, trying to make her realize that she had to tell Jake that she liked him.

"Maybe he just thinks I'm crazy…" Sam said sadly.

"Well you are." Jen teased. Sam punched her lightly on the shoulder. "So are you going to tell him? Or are you at least going to tell him you forgive him?" Jen stuck her lower lip out.

"Why do you care so much, Jen?" Sam asked, confused as to why Jen would want her to be with a guy who Jen never gotten along with. "You don't even like Jake."

"Okay… so maybe I don't like Jake. But you do. And he likes you. And besides that fact that he's shy and pretty much the most stubborn guy on the planet- at least he likes you. He likes you like no one else is ever going to like you, Sam. He may even be so far as loving you at this point. I'm telling you. You can search the whole world for another guy that loves you as much as Jake does. But I'd bet a million dollars you'll never find him."

_Thanks for reading guys! I hope that you liked it, despite the fact that nothing happened, lol. I actually liked writing this one, because poor Sam is so hard on herself. I love when she's in denial. And Jake is denied! Yeah! I think this story is going to have maybe three or four more chapters, but at that point it should be about to end. And it will be the first multi-chaptered fic that I have ever finished!_

_Thanks again for reading!_

_Snappleapple518_


	10. Hurry Up, Cause I've Got a Hot Date

**Chapter 10: Hurry up, Cause I've Got a Hot Date**

Sam stomped out of the room with Jen followed closely on her heels.

"Sam! What is wrong with you?" Jen shouted, clearly confused. Sam spun around and pointed her finger angrily in Jen's pale face. Jen's blue eyes widened. Was Sam going to punch her?

"You! You're the problem!" Sam shouted.

"Me? What the heck did I do?" Jen asked, still confused.

"You! You used to support me when I did stuff. I say I don't like Jake, and you're all 'Oh, yeah, she doesn't like Jake.' And then you go telling me that 'Oh, you can look wherever you want but you're never going to find another boy that loves you like Jake Ely.' You hate Jake Ely! You always have! And if you love him so much why don't you go and kiss him for all I care!!" Sam snarled. Jen's face suddenly turned understanding.

"Sam… I don't hate Jake Ely. I never have. He's just not the boy for me. He never has been. We're too much alike. And plus, I just don't like him _that _way. But Jake Ely is the boy for you." Jen told her, her eyes growing wide, trying to make her understand, but unfortunately Sam _didn't _understand.

"You know what! I am sick of every single one of you people in this hotel! I don't know why you all think you can pick out the boy for me. Cause you can't. And no matter how hard you try Jake Ely will NEVER be the boy for me! And you can't make him!" Sam growled.

"We know we can't Sam. But we have confidence that someday you'll figure it out on your own." Jen told her sounding mysterious. Sam shrieked extremely loudly, and running her hands through her auburn hair she ran down the hallway. This time Jen did not follow her. Jen was certain- Sam would figure it out eventually.

---

Sam ran down the hallway, her face as bright red as her hair. She wasn't sure why this made her so angry, but somehow these comments about Jake made her blood boil more than anything else she'd ever had to endure.

_Maybe that's because they're true._

_**Shut up, little voice! No one likes you!**_

Sam shook her head as he realized that she had been talking to herself, and ran quicker. Maybe if she ran fast she could escape the truth.

---

Rjay's face grew angry as he opened up the door.

"Sam! What are you doing here! First you go insulting me and then you come back her shouting about taking you to the airport!" His face was about as red as Sam's now.

"Come, on Rjay. I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't even mean to say it. I'm not even sure what I said. It's been a long day, and I'm not even sure what's going on… but I do know that I NEED to get to the airport." Sam said, trying to remain calm, but not quite sure why she was mad. _Wow, boy am I confused._

Rjay sighed. Somehow he couldn't ever figure out what was going on in Sam's head. _Girls…_

"Okay, why do you need to go to the airport?" Rjay asked.

"I just do." Sam told him, realizing that she didn't really know herself.

"That's not really the answer I was looking for." Rjay said with another sigh. Maybe it was just the whole female gender that acted like this.

"Come on, Rjay… I need you to do this for me." Sam pleaded, pushing out her lower lip. Rjay looked up at her and then wished that he hadn't.

"Okay, let's go. But you better make this quick. Cause I've got a hot date." He smiled.

"Hot, date, huh?" said Sam with a grin. "With who?" she asked.

"Rachel Slocum. Can you believe it?" asked Rjay excitedly. Sam almost swayed with the shock.

"Are you kidding me?" Sam asked him, sure that he was joking around. Who in their right mind would want to go out with Rachel? And then she remembered, oh, right, two-thirds of the male student population. Actually, all of them except Jake and her brother.

"No, not kidding. Let's get going. I need to be back soon." He pulled her arm and rushed her through the door. He turned back toward her and asked, "Have you ever noticed how good she smells? Like strawberries!" He grinned.

Sam groaned.

---

All throughout the rest of the car ride Rjay talked about no one other than Rachel Slocum. About how good she smelled, how nice she was, how sweet she was, how pretty she was. But Sam wasn't really listening. She was busy wondering what she was doing going to the airport. She wasn't going home, was she? Surely not. So why was she going there. When the arrived, she step out of the car and waited for Rjay.

"You coming?" she asked. He hesitated for a moment and then stepped out of the car.

"Well, I better come along just to make sure that you don't hurt yourself or get lost in the baggage claim or something." She rolled her eyes at him. To think that a boy that nice would go out with Rachel Slocum. What was the world coming to? And Sam didn't even know that her world was about to turn more inside out than ever.

_I hope that you liked it! It will probably have two more chapters after this one. One more real chapter and then an epilogue. It might turn out to be more than that, but I'm pretty sure that two more chapters is the most that you guys are going to get. If it's worthy you never know when a sequel is going to pop up, lol. Well you know the drill… if you read it, review it! And if you didn't read it, then just don't bother because that is just plain annoying._

_Thanks again,_

_Snappleapple518_


	11. Because I Freaking Love You, You Freak

**Chapter 11: Because I Freaking Love You, You Freak**

Sam's heart was pounding as she hurried towards the front door to the airport. She wasn't sure where she was going or why she was running, but apparently Rjay wanted to know too.

He grabbed onto her arm, and stopped her from running. He spun her around and held her so that she wouldn't move.

"Sam? What are you doing? Because if you are planning to hop on one of those planes and jet off back to Nevada, then I'm telling you now, you can't. I'm not going to let you get on some random plane and run off." Rjay told her, his eyes looking serious. Sam sighed.

"Okay, I promise, no planes." Sam told him quickly and then began to run again. Rjay sighed, and bolted off after her, rolling his eyes as he ran.

When Sam got to the front door she flung it open and ran inside, almost knocking over a little girl that was standing right in front of it.

"Sorry." She mumbled and kept on running.

Sam was running towards the baggage area and it was then that she saw the familiar figure of a boy… a boy with a black ponytail… a boy who if he had turned around she would have seen his mustang eyes. And then he did turn.

Something in Sam's chest went crazy, and she felt as if she was going to fall over.

And then she did.

---

It was 20 minutes later when Sam finally came to, and when she did she almost fainted again. Jake was standing in front of her, live and in person, his mustang eyes boring into her with what could only be described as alarm.

He said something, but she couldn't figure out exactly what it was that he was saying.

Sam blinked for a second.

"What?" she asked, her voice sounding small.

"Are you okay?" he asked, for what was probably the third or fourth time.

"Okay?" she asked, "Uh, yeah, I'm fine." She tried to stand up, but she almost collapsed again. Jake caught her in his arms and a shiver ran up her spine. _I must be cold _she thought. _But it's eighty degrees out…_

Sam tried to stand up again, but Jake stopped her, pressing his hand on her chest to stop her from trying to stand up again.

"Sam, you need to sit still. I think you might be sick." Jake told her. His eyes looked so serious for a moment that Sam almost thought she might really be sick, but then she dismissed the idea.

"I'm not sick, Jake. Just tired." She told him with a sigh. Then he got a confused look on his face.

"What are you doing at the airport, Sam?" he asked, his eyes narrowing. Sam let out a scoffing laugh.

"Why am _I _at the airport? I think I should be the one asking you that question right now." She said, raising her eyebrows. He looked down at the floor for a second, and then looked up again. Their eyes met.

"I came to find you, Sam." He told her, sounding somewhat sheepish. Sam sighed.

"Why would you do that?" she asked, "Couldn't you just wait till I came home?" Sam asked. Jake shook his head.

"No, no, I couldn't, Sam."

"Why, not?" she asked, trying to figure out why he was so urgent about this whole situation.

"I knew that letting you go out here by yourself was a mistake. I knew you were going to get hurt." He sighed. Sam's eye narrowed.

"But Jake, I didn't get hurt. I'm perfectly fine!" she raised her voice.

"You're not fine, Sam. You're lying on the floor of an airport." He told her, talking to her as if she wasn't quite all there.

"I'm only lying on the floor of an airport because you felt the need to fly half the way across the world to get me, even though I don't freaking need you to protect me!" Sam shouted, louder this time than before. Then Jake smiled, which made Sam feel even angrier.

"Why would I being here cause you to faint?" Jake asked.

"Because I freaking love you, you ignorant, insolent freak!" Sam shouted, and then she wished that she could stuff the words back inside her mouth. She blushed deep red.

Jake smiled down at her once more and Sam felt a shiver run down her spine, as she remembered he was holding her.

"I love you too, Brat." He told her, and before she knew it, their lips met.

And it was then that Sam realized what everyone else had always known: that Jake Ely was, always had been, and always would be the boy for her…

_So what did you think? I hope that you thought it was pretty good, though I myself feel it is a little bit short. Well anyways, I'm not sure if I'm going to do an epilogue, but I guess it would be appropriate. So tell me if you want another chapter after this one or if this seems to be a good ending for you. Because I guess it could be an okay ending, if you're into that whole ambiguous ending type of thing. Anyways, thanks to all of you guys who helped encourage me while I wrote this story, with your kind words, and good suggestions. Tell me if there is anything loose ends that I need to tie up. I guess RyanxJen need some tying up and RachelxRjay too… yeah, so I guess that there will be another chapter. There could even be a fight between Jake and Alex… those are always fun, aren't they?_

_Thanks again,_

_Snappleapple518_


	12. So, Who's the Hunk?

**Chapter 12: So, Who's the Hunk?**

"So what are you going to do?" asked Sam, as she slid her hand into Jake's. Jake looked down at her, confused.

"What do you mean, what am I going to do?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowing over his gentle mustang eyes.

"You can't very well just go to the hotel and tell your mom that you skipped school and decided to take a break and head up to London." Sam told him.

"Oh, but Sam, I can. She will be slightly angry. But I'll play it off… I'll play it off so that it looks like I really need her." Jake smiled, raising his eyebrows.

"So you're gonna like, lie? But what is your mom gonna think when she finds out the truth. She's not gonna trust you anymore." Sam stopped walking and looked Jake in the eye. Jake was usually the soul of discretion and honesty. All the adults trusted him.

"People and adults especially, trust me, Sam. And usually I am pretty honest about things… so they have a good reason to trust me. It's just this one time that I'll lie to my mom. She'll never find out that I came here to see you. And I did miss her." He grinned for a second, and then spoke quietly in her ear "Just not as much as I missed you." Sam felt a warm feeling surge run through her body. She wasn't used to this kind of attention from anyone. She squeezed his hand and they continued walking. It was then that she remembered who had come to the airport with her.

"Rjay!" she gasped, absentmindedly. Jake snapped his head in her direction, his eyes looking slightly suspicious.

"What?" he asked, his voice sounding low and gruff.

"Rjay… he was the one who brought me here in the first place. He was in the airport somewhere… I'm not sure where he went." Sam told him. His eyes softened a bit from the sharpened "weapons" that they had been just a second ago.

"Do you remember where he parked his car?" he asked. Sam thought for a moment and then remembering, she nodded.

"Uh, yeah, I think I remember where it was." She told him, nodding again.

"Okay, well, he probably realized what happened, and went back to his car after a while. We can meet him there." Jake told her, with a comforting squeeze of the hand. Sam laid her head on his shoulder for a moment.

"You tired?" he asked her, looking concerned.

"No, no, I'm fine… It's just that this week has been really trying for me. I was thinking it'll be nice to go home…" her voice trailed away to nothing.

"It'll be nice to have you home." He told her with a sincere smile.

---

When Sam and Jake arrived at the hotel with Rjay, whose car they had found quiet easily, they were met by an astonished Mrs. Ely.

"Sam! Where have you… Jake what are you doing here?!" she asked, her eyes widening as if she wasn't really sure if it was her son standing there, or just a wild delusion of her mind.

"I missed you, Mom." He said softly, looking at her in a very endearing sort of a way, and wrapping his arms around her in a hug. It was then that Sam noticed just how much bigger Jake was than his own mother.

Mrs. Ely shot Sam a confused but happy smile.

"Did you know he was coming, Sam?" she asked. Sam froze for a second, wondering how she could answer this question without lying through her teeth. Well… actually, she hadn't had any idea that Jake was coming.

"I didn't have a clue." was what she finally blurted out, with a smile.

Mrs. Ely just raised her eyebrows, but she didn't say anything more to Sam. She then let go of Jake, and crossed her arms, looking at him seriously.

"Does your father know you're here?" she asked raising her eyebrows even further. Jake's eyes narrowed slightly, and the twinkle left his eye.

"Uh, yeah… about that… well, I kind of missed you so much you know, I kind of forgot to mention it to him." He looked sheepishly down at the ground. Mrs. Ely's eyes widened in utter surprise at her usually responsible teenage son's completely irresponsible behavior.

"Jacob Ely! Your father is probably worried sick. Call him, now, Jake. And I'm not planning on doing any of the explaining for you… after all, I have no idea what's going on." She told him, rolling her eyes.

She pulled her cell phone out of her back pocket and handed it to him.

"Go. Now." She told him strictly. He looked down at the ground, but took the phone, and quickly walked a little ways down the hallway.

---

Jake, finished with his call, walked back down the hallway towards Sam who was sitting on a bench in the hallway.

She didn't notice that he had come back until he touched her on the shoulder. She jumped.

"Sam?" he asked quietly. "Oh, sorry, did I scare you?"

"Uh, no… you just surprised me. So, what did your dad say?" she asked. Sam knew that Jake's father was very quiet and old-fashioned as most cowboys are. He and Jake were so much alike, and Sam couldn't really imagine a phone conversation between the two. She'd bet there wasn't too many jokes being cracked in that conversation.

"Uh… he was, disappointed in me." Jake said, looking down at the floor.

"Oh, that sucks." Sam said, with a small smile. Jake smiled back, as he sat down next to her on the bench. He squeezed her hand, and was opening his mouth to say something when a certain dark haired boy with blue eyes decided to stick his head out of Ryan's hotel room.

"Hey, Alex." Sam muttered.

"Hey, Samantha." He flashed her a smile. She noticed that his teeth were blindingly white. Then he proceeded to make a completely unneeded comment.

"So, who's the hunk?" he asked, smiling again, this time, mockingly.

She glared at him, attempting to bore her eyes right through him. _If only, I was Clark Kent, _she thought with a sigh.

"This is my friend Jake, from back home in Nevada. He goes to my school" She said, gritting her teeth. He smiled for the third time, and she could feel his sarcastic comment coming on.

"Oh, so this is the incredible Jake…" He raised his eyebrows and glanced back and forth between the two of them, "Do you usually hold hands with your friends? Wait… then again; we were friends, weren't we? And you made out with me, so I guess holding hands with him really isn't all that big of a deal." he said. She looked down at the bench and realized that her hand was, in fact, still entwined with Jake's. She rolled her eyes at him, even as the blush spread across her face. She tried to slip her hand out of Jake's but his hand only gripped hers tighter.

"I don't really have time for this, Alex." She told him, hoping that he would take the hint and go away. He didn't.

"Too bad, Sammy, cause I've got all the time in the world." Sam looked across at Jake and saw that he was clenching his jaw. She didn't say anything, and just held his hand tighter. Alex stood there for a moment grinning, and then he spoke again.

"Okay, I can see that you don't want to talk to me? So I'm just going to leave. Tell you boyfriend that he's not going to be able to keep you for long, seeing as he can't even stick up for you when you're being insulted." He smiled one last time, and spun quickly around and begun to march his way back down the hallway.

Unfortunately this is where it gets messy.

_So what did you think? I know, I said only two more chapters, but I guess there's a lot to wrap up so I can extend it a LITTLE bit more. I just liked ending it on the note that I ended it on. That was fun  Anyways, the update should be relatively fast because after this I'm just going to start writing the next chapter. Thanks for reading, and I'll get back to you guys soon._

_Thanks again,_

_Snappleapple518_


	13. Bread and Butter

**Chapter 13: Bread and Butter**

"Jake! Don't!" Sam screamed as he let go of her hand and dashed towards Alex who was headed down the hallway. Alex, who hadn't noticed Jake was coming, turned around at the sound of Sam's voice.

"What are-" he began to say, but unfortunately Jake's hand was shoved right into his face at that moment, and as he fell to the floor he seemed to forget what he was about to say. Jake landed on top of him. Alex grunted as if all the air had been pushed out of his chest.

"Get off me!" Alex shouted. Jake didn't comply. "Get off me you, freak!" he shouted again, as if insulting Jake was going to get him off faster.

"No, you get off my girlfriend." Jake said stubbornly. Alex looked up and grinned.

"I'm not on her… at least not yet." He snarled as he shoved Jake from on top of his chest, and ran towards Sam. He grabbed her hand, pulled her off the bench, and began to drag her down the hallway.

"Alex, let go of me!" Sam yelled, "You're hurting my arm!" He spun around towards her with a snide grin on his face.

"Don't play that way with me, Sammy. You know you've always liked me from the moment you met me. So don't act like there's no attraction." He planted a kiss on her lips. She pulled away as fast as possible.

"I do _not_ like you, Alex." She insisted.

"Sammy, do you usually kiss people that you hate?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her.

"I was going through a hard time. I was trying to cope, and you just happened to be there and you caught me in a weak moment, so let's not pretend that we had something, when you very well know that we DID NOT!" she shouted and pulled away from him, only to feel her hand being grabbed by someone else.

She spun around to find Jake standing behind her. He smiled.

"I'm glad to hear that." He said, and then took her hand they began to walk down the hallway together. If they would have turned around they would have seen Alex standing behind them without a stunned look on his face.

No girl had ever rejected him like that before.

---

"So did you mean what you said?" asked Jake. Sam looked up at him, confused about what she had said.

"Did I mean what?" she asked.

"About you and Alex. That there's nothing between you guys…" his voice trailed away, and he looked down at the floor. She realized that though they had confessed that they liked each other now, Jake was still the same shy Jake that he'd always been. She smiled.

"Of course, I meant it, Jake. Why would I like a jerk like that, when I could have a guy like you?" she smiled shyly up at him.

He didn't say anything, but she could tell that he was pleased by her response.

---

Upon returning to her hotel room, Sam was welcomed by a very surprised Jen and Ryan.

"Hey, guys… Jake's here." She told them with a small smile.

Jen's eyes widened as she saw that they were still holding hands, but she didn't say anything.

"Alex came by…" Ryan said quietly, raising her eyes in Sam's direction. "You must have done something awful to the kid. He looked terrible." Ryan told her.

"He started it." Sam insisted.

Jake nodded, and let go of Sam's hand. Sam walked over to Jen and sat on the bed next to her.

"So what have you two been up to? And why is he here?" Jen asked Sam.

"He missed his mom." Sam insisted.

"Oh, he did, did he?" Jen replied with a smirk.

"Guess so…" said Sam.

"Well, we'll just have to go out and talk about over some ice-cream." Jen smiled.

"We do, do we?" asked Sam, raising her eyebrows.

"Ice-cream sounds good." Was what Ryan had to say about the situation. Jen turned to him and smiled.

"That's too bad, because you're not going." She told him. She smiled sweetly at him.

"And why would that be?" he asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Girl talk." She told him simply, and Sam and Jen exited the room, leaving the boys standing there with curious expressions on their faces.

---

"So is it true?" Jen asked Sam immediately after they sat down at a booth in the corner of the small ice-cream shop.

"Is what true?" Sam asked, with an innocent look on her face as if she didn't have any idea what Jen was talking about.

"You… and Jake?" she asked. A rose colored blush crept over Sam's cheeks.

"I guess the color of your cheeks gives me my answer." Jen said, with a smirk. Sam laughed. She'd never been so embarrassed to talk about anything in her life.

"I guess it's been a long time coming." Sam said softly, looked down at the checkered table top. A drop of her ice-cream fell of her spoon and landed on the table. Jen laughed.

"That's probably the understatement of the year! The Sam and Jake romance has been in the works since the moment you two set eyes on each other."

"Come on, Jen! It's never been like that. I don't even really know what happened…" Sam blushed again.

"I'll tell you what happened," Jen offered, "The first time anyone sees you together, it's just something that they know." Jen told her.

"That's not true, Jen. You never thought that, and my parents, and Ryan, and well, Jake and I never thought that." Sam tried to convince her.

"I've always thought that you two would be perfect for each other. And as for Ryan, well he and I have been trying to get you two together for as long as I can remember… and as for your parents, and mine, and Jake's… you've just got to trust me on this one, Sam. You and Jake are a couple sent straight from the big man upstairs." Jen told her with a triumphant smile.

And as Sam stuffed a spoonful of ice-cream in her mouth, she knew that it was true.

She and Jake were like Bert and Ernie, peanut-butter and jelly, bread and butter… they were the kind of pair that no one can bear to keep apart. And she'd known that just like bread, she'd never feel quite right without her butter.

Jake…

She smiled.

At this moment the waitress walked up, and wondered if they'd like anything else.

"I could get you some bread. It's free with the ice-cream." The waitress offered with a smile, as if it was an offer they couldn't resist.

"Sure. We'll have some." Jen said, with a smile.

"Bread doesn't really go with ice-cream…" Jen said after the waitress had gone into the back room.

"Butter!" Sam exclaimed. Jen turned and looked at her as if she was crazy.

"Huh?"

"Bread and butter!" Sam said excitedly.

"What about them?" Jen asked, still not sure if Sam was in her right mind.

"They go so well together!" Sam told her.

"Uhhh… yeah, why don't you state the obvious again, Sam?" Jen said sarcastically.

But Sam hadn't heard a word Jen had just uttered.

True love can do that to a person.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_That's all folks! The end! And I hoped that you liked it! But if you didn't… well too bad for you!  Thanks to everyone actually stuck through and read this whole story. I'm not sure it was really that good, but it's the first multi-chapter fic I've ever actually finished, so I'm pretty proud of myself. I'm sorry that there wasn't really any Jen and Ryan coverage, but that wasn't really the point of the story so you'll just have to get over it. Once again…_

_Thanks for reading,_

_Snappleapple518_


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